This should be fun: Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Lazio is not contesting millionaire developer Carl Paladino's petition to be in the fall GOP primary. According to the AP, "The deadline to contest thousands of signatures on Paladino's petition to get on the Sept. 14 ballot expired at midnight Monday. State Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin said Tuesday that no objection to the petition has been filed."
So far, Lazio has raised $3 million—but has around $600,000-700,000 cash on hand—compared to the nearly $24 million that Democrat Andrew Cuomo has on hand. Which is why Cuomo considers Paladino, who has threatened to spend $10 million of his own money, a real threat; the Attorney General said last weekend, "One of the opponents is a multi-millionaire who has said he can put his hand in his own pocket and spend millions of dollars. And if you don’t have the money to run a campaign you’re not competitive."
Paladino, a Tea Party favorite, is famously outspoken and happily risque; he told the AP, that Lazio "can't get people excited. He has no message. He doesn't really understand the problems of state government that have to be addressed, and he just doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to confront these demons. It's like they pull him off the bench every time they need somebody to run against a powerful Democrat they expect to lose to." But where does Paladino stand on the most important issue of all? He's anti-Ground Zero mosque, NATCH.
